Beer Guide 2014: Stickmen

Open-air kitchens are one thing, open-air breweries are
another. After you finally find a parking spot in the Albertsons lot and
scramble across busy State Street, you open the door to Stickmen
Brewery to find yourself enveloped in clouds of steam and bleach stink.
Thirst, gone. Then, you see Stickmen’s food menu, a terrifying and
slightly racist mish-mash of pub food and Asian fusion. (Ho’tasian
buns—seriously?) Still, the views of the lake are glorious. The
waitstaff is friendly and accommodating. And the beer is palatable, if
leaning to the sweet side. Avoid the darker beers, which range from
so-so to downright bad. The coffee porter, in particular, is like
sucking on old grounds. But a seasonal saison incorporates Hood River
apple cider and is crisp and dry, and the most popular beer, the
imperial kolsch Big Honey, appeals to anyone who has ever taken a sip of
golden Pilsner and thought, “Hmm, I’m just not getting drunk fast
enough.” In the summer, though, we’ll look past everything to bask on
that lakeside patio. ADRIENNE SO.

DRINK THIS: Bananas on Fire, a dunkelweizen with a nice vanilla finish.